Metamorphosis

Too Cool for School

Chapter 59

Too Cool for School

Ava had spent her entire weekend trying to reach Mira. She had called, texted, IMed, everything she could think of. Ava knew that there was something going on with her parents that involved Mira and she only hoped that her friend would tell her. The only response she had gotten was when the blonde sent out a mass text saying that Jake Peterson had been found guilty and was going away to prison for a long time.

On Sunday, she was tired of waiting for Mira to reply, so after her shift at work, she drove to the Pascal house. She parked her little blue hybrid in the driveway and marched up to the front door, ringing the bell.

After the second ring, a young girl with long pink streaks in her blonde hair answered the door. Ava recognized her as Marli, the littlest Pascal.

"Hey kid." She greeted. Ava had met Marli before, so there was no need for introductions. Ava was actually the one who inspired Marli to dye her hair pink. "Is Mira home?"

Marli leaned against the doorframe and pulled her dark jean jacket closer to her body against the chill. "Yeah, but she is lying down right now."

Ava sighed and looked up at the gray sky. "Okay, well… tell her I stopped by."

"I will," Marli promised. Ava turned and walked back to her car, disappointed.

The preteen closed the door and looked over at her sister, who was sitting on the couch. "She's gone now, coward."

Mira crossed her arms and scowled at Marli. "I'm not a coward; I just don't want to talk to her yet. She'll ask questions about what her parents asked and I don't want her to know yet."

Marli shrugged in an uncaring way. "If you say so… coward."

There were only a handful of reasons why Seth would spend any time in the main house and not in his little house in the backyard: when his coffeemaker broke and he needed to use his mom's, if the plumbing was backed up, and when he wanted to use the weight room Dave had set up. Seth suspected that Dave had put the small gym in the house as a way to lure him in more, but it was a really nice gym room.

He was about to bench press a massive weight when he heard someone clear their throat from the doorway.

"That's a lot of weight, son," Dave said. Seth looked at him from his awkward position and scoffed.

"I can handle it," he boasted. The boy clasped his fingers around the bar of the weight and lifted it slowly. Once he brought it over his chest, his arms gave out. "Oh god."

Dave quickly rushed over and easily lifted the weight off the boy's chest. Seth gasped for breath as his step father placed it back in its holders.

"Thanks," he mumbled, taking the towel Dave offered him and wiping his forehead. He had spent the last ninety minutes lifting weights, beating up the punching bag, or running on the treadmill.

"You almost had it, kiddo," he said optimistically. Seth wiped the sweat off his jaw and gave his stepfather a look.

"What's up, Dave-o?" he asked, tossing the towel onto the bench and walking over to the hand weights.

"You know, Julie was asking about Mira the other day," he said to start conversation. "She was wondering if she would get a baby in her tummy someday too."

"That's nice," Seth said in disinterest. "Dave, what do you want?

"I actually came here to talk to you about something," Dave replied. Seth looked at him and he continued, "About the baby."